Disease is Darkness

I cannot guarantee you a victory in every battle you take on against the enemy and his schemes this side of Heaven; but I can guarantee you will never have victory if you surrender to the enemy from the start!


One of the misconceptions I encountered early on in our battle for my daughter's health was the naive belief that everything that touches our lives is somehow within God's will and plan for our lives.  Working in the Social Work profession and witnessing first hand the consequences of poverty; broken marriages and homes; alcoholism and drug abuse; crime; and physical and sexual abuse on a daily basis taught me early on to discount this misconception.  The truth is we live in an imperfect, fallen world.  No matter how hard we strive to live a good and righteous life on our own, we can still become a victim or an indirect recipient of the consequences of the sin of those around us.  Having counseled victims of abuse, rape, and other extreme injustices, there was no way that I would ever believe that God's hand was in any of it, nor that He would ever will such evil on anyone.  That is not even fathomable for our good and perfect God.    

Furthermore, if we believe that the sin of man can’t impact and change the perfect will of God, then we would have to believe that God had no plan for the lives of the millions of babies who are aborted each year.  The fact is, sin does impact and change the perfect will of God (We can ask Samson about this when we get to Heaven one day), which is why we are to never stop praying!   I believe that God used my Social Work background to give me some understanding about the consequences of living in a sinful world.  Therefore, it was not hard for me to conceive that something evil could have touched our lives with the diagnosis of this disease in my daughter’s life.  I struggled to see this disease as anything but "an enemy" even if God could find a way to use it for good.  This outlook helped me to be able to deal with it accordingly.  

In order to fight when the day of evil has come, we must first be aware that it is indeed "evil" we are encountering.  With our "belt of truth" firmly in place, we must be able to identify what the truth is concerning disease.  Is disease an "enemy" or could it possibly be a "calling" on our life?  Much confusion exists today when it comes to the subject of disease.  

According to the Webster's Dictionary, disease is defined as:

1.	a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.

2.	any abnormal condition that interferes with its vital physiological processes, caused by pathogenic microorganisms, parasites, unfavorable environmental, genetic, or nutritional factors, etc.

3.	any harmful, depraved, or morbid condition, as of the mind or society: His fascination with executions is a disease.

I think it is safe to say that disease is darkness. 

 "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:  God is light; in him there is no darkness at all."  I John 1:5

  

If we consider the characteristics of God and compare those characteristics with those of disease; it is very clear that disease completely contradicts the character of God.  Words that characterize disease include; disorder, incorrect, error, deficiency, imbalance, abnormal, harmful, depraved, morbid, decomposition.  

   God  (light)                                                                Disease  (darkness)

1.  The Creator/Perfector                                 1.  Destruction/decomposition

2.  Rock/Pillar of strength                               2.  Infirmity/deficiency/imbalance

3.  Freedom                                                    3.  Bondage

4.  Just Authority/ Sovereign Authority            4.   Oppression/ Inequity/unjust authority

5.  Truth                                                         5.   Falsehood/incorrect

6.  Restorer/ Renewal                                       6.  Debilitation

7.  Perfect                                                       7.  Abnormal/error

8.  Order                                                         8.   Disorder

9.  Righteous                                                   9.   Depraved

God is light.  "For the fruit of the light consist in all goodness, righteousness, and truth."  Ephesians 5:9

Think about it, what do we want to be reigning inside of our mortal bodies or our children’s mortal bodies?  …Darkness or Light?   Falsehood or Truth?  Disorder or Order?  Depravity or Righteousness?  

It is clear that disease is not a product or “fruit” of the light.  Remember, "We have been called out of the darkness into His wonderful light."  Disease is not of God.  There is no darkness in God at all.  When disease has entered into the body, darkness has found a way in.  It is essential that we recognize this truth.  Disease is not something to ever simply accept.  It is something that we must regard as an "enemy" a "foreign invader," and we must act accordingly.  There is nothing in God's word to indicate that we are to simply accept disease as our calling in life.  Jesus never turned anyone away who asked for healing.  Jesus never told anyone that they were meant to live with disease, nor that they could bring glory to God by showing joy in the midst of it.   Jesus was both loving and compassionate to those who were suffering around him. 

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Yes, God can certainly be glorified through anything.  We know that God can use any situation and turn anything that Satan intends for evil into something good.  However, we have got to be smart, open our eyes, and see what is going on all around us. The misconception that we are "called" to endure disease joyfully (along with medications that "mask" the symptoms of disease without offering a cure) is giving Christians a false sense of security, and often times stopping the necessary prayers and lifestyle changes that can directly impact the disease. The focus has become about staying as comfortable as possible from one day to the next, rather than facing the reality that something is very wrong! To make matters worse, these medications (which are unnatural to the body) have side-effects that can bring on a whole new set of problems.   

Please don’t misunderstand me.  I am grateful for the medical advances that have saved my children’s lives!  However, when the human body is dependent on man-made medications to function indefinitely, we have a problem!

I am not going to pretend that I have all of the answers concerning disease and healing, because I do not.  I can only share my own personal experiences as well as the understanding that God has given to me through this time.   My goal is to encourage you to pray and never settle or fall into the lie that disease is the plan for your life or the life of your child!  Begin your battle today by recognizing and standing firm against the devil’s schemes with your “belt of truth” firmly in place! 

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  I Peter 2:9